Green Curry Paste Recipe

4.5/5 62 Votes

Pin It

See it on your phone!

Even though most people living in Bangkok buy store bought curry pastes, nothing compares to the scent of the curry paste being made. It perfumes the whole kitchen. The arduous process, from sourcing the ingredients to pounding out the paste, is daunting but the reward is grand.

Often store bought green curry paste is too spicy so that I can't put enough paste in without having the curry be too hot. When you make it yourself, you will be able to control the heat in your own curry paste by adjusting the amount of green chili peppers you add.

Green curry paste's ingredients are the same as red curry paste, except for the chilies. The red in red curry paste comes from dried chili peppers, while the green in green curry paste comes from fresh green chili peppers. Green chilies turn from red when ripe.

Don't worry about making too much: you can store excess in your freezer for up to a year.

10 Servings, Prep Time: 30 Minutes, Total Time: 30 Minutes

1 tablespoon coriander
1/2 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
1 1/2 tablespoons galangal
3-4 tablespoons sliced lemongrass
1 teaspoon shrimp paste
1/4 cup Chili Leaf Optional
1 tablespoon sliced cilantro roots
1/4 cup garlic
1 Kaffir Lime
1 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup sliced shallots
10-15 Green Thai Chili Peppers

Tips and Techniques

In making green curry paste, one important, but difficult-to-find ingredient is kaffir lime zest. Please do not substitute kaffir lime leaves for the zest as you would not substitute lemon leaves for lemon zest in lemon meringue pie. Kaffir lime zest has a distinct scent and flavor and regular western limes are an ineffective substitute.
Cilantro roots are often not available; substitute stems for roots.
The technique to using a mortar and pestle is to pound down at an angle then drag it, grind and twist it up toward yourself. Use the other hand to cup the opening, to both prevent the contents from bouncing out and steady the mortar. Then pound and pound and pound. It will take a lot of grinding to make smooth curry paste.
The purpose of the leaves is primarily to add a beautiful bright green color without adding heat. If you try to get the same color without the leaves, you will need many peppers and the paste will be very hot.

Method

Prepping: Toast coriander, peppercorns and cumin in a pan until light brown. You’ll hear the crackling sound when they're ready. Let the spices cool so they will grind easily.

Slice shallots, lemongrass, galangal and cilantro roots into small pieces. I use one lemongrass stalk. Slice thinly or grate the kaffir lime zest, about 1 tablespoon. They will grind into fine paste with smaller fibers.

Notes about using mortar and pestle: Pound the ingredients into the side, almost at the deepest spot, at a 65 degree angle. Do not pound straight down into the center of the mortar; things will bounce back at you. Pound and drag out the pestle to separate the fibers.

Grinding curry paste techniques: Ingredients with least amount of water content and/or hard ingredients go in first. Leave the shallots for last.

Grind the spices into powder. Add lemongrass and galangal into the mortar. Grind them into rough fibers. Add salt, garlic, kaffir lime zest, cilantro roots and shrimp paste next. Add fresh green chili peppers and leaves next. Pound until the mixture turn into a fine paste so that you can’t recognize individual ingredients. It took me a good 20 minutes of straight pounding; good for your arm. You are excused from going to the gym today!

The role of salt in curry pastes is to help with grinding and to act as a preservative. You may add more salt than what’s called for; just remember when you cook with it to taste your curry prior to seasoning.